Grief Guardians
by Cinamon Stick
Summary: Four kids start out on a hike, and are quickly separated in a snow storm. The Guardians save all but one... can they work through there grief, even with the Guardians help? Or will Pitches intervention send them to their demise?
1. Saved By Frosted Feathers

I trudged up the hill, miserable. Snow clung to everything- my eye lashes, my back pack, the opening of my collar. It crept under my thin coat, turning my light skin red. It had been two hours since me and my friends, Clara, John, and Ashley had begun hiking the clear trail of Mt. Denali. It was the last day of summer, and we hoped to reach a good point to watch the sunset that would end it, plunging Alaska into night. But unexpectedly a snow storm hit, and the white out covered the trail. We got separated. Luckily, we were natives, and brought supplies with us, just in case. But we'd never expected a true disaster- they were just things we were warned about and TV and at school, never a true situation.  
But now here I was, with no idea where to find the trail. I fought back the panic inside me.  
Eventually I decided to just find a place to hunker down until someone found me. It was better to save energy while I had it, than to exert myself and face death. I looked around, trying to find some sort of shelter. I made my way forward twenty feet, trying to see through the snow blanketed trees. I could see the faintest shadow of an overhand in the rock.  
I walked toward it, relieved that I could stop, finally. Then I was plunged into blackness. I had fallen into a small divot it the earth, and snow surrounded me in a biting cloud. It seeped into my clothes. Shit. I got up, and desperately made my way to the shelter of rock. I made it there, sitting down and wrapping my arms around my ridged body. I would last about an hour now that I was wet.  
I closed my eyes, waiting for rescue or death.

Thirty minute later, my fingers were turning a frosted purple. My toes felt like blocks of ice, and I could barely feel my face. I tried to keep from crying, because the tears threatened to freeze my eyelids shut. I rocked back and forth, trying to keep up some motion.  
Suddenly, there was a hand on my shoulder. With an effort, I turned to find a boy with pale skin and hair, kneeling beside me, concern coveting his features.  
"Who are you?" I croaked in a raspy voice.  
"I'm Jack," he murmured, "Are you okay?"  
"What do you think?" I gripped bitterly. I shouldn't have been so rude now that someone was here, but his idiotic question annoyed me. He found a girl with blue skin, sitting in an overhang in the middle of a snow storm alone- how did he think she was doing?  
He ignored my snarkiness,"We need to get you out of here," he muttered, moving to pick me up.  
"Wait," I said, sitting up straighter, "Did they find the others?"  
"What others?" he raised his eyebrows.  
"My friends, Ashley, John and Clara, did the rescue team find them yet?"

He frowned, "I'm not from a rescue team,"  
I was confused, "Then why are you out here?"  
"I live here,"  
I rolled my eyes, "On Denali?"  
"In the cold," he answered.  
"But," he stopped me.

"There's no time to explain. There are others?" he closed his eyes for a moment, then his eyebrows creased, "Oh no…"

"What?"

He opens his eyes, and I see the pain in them, "Nothing," he answers softly.

There's a moment of silence as I stare at the strange, blue eyed rescuer. Finally he stands.

"Ten minutes. I'll be back in ten minutes,"

Before I can say anything, he's gone, seeming to have been swept away in a flurry of wind.

The next ten minutes are the longest of my life. I hug my knees, waiting, pleading for hi to come back. I struggle to keep my eyes open against the exhaustion and cold.

Then he appears beside me, with another. My eyes widen as I see her.

She looks so much like a girl, and so unlike a human. Her slender body hovers above the ground, suspended my two thin, humming wings. The rest of her is covered in turquoise feathers, all for her face and hands. Her peach face is accented with golden feathers, that match the warm hue that starts at her neck and fades back to blue, then back to the turquoise. I stare at her. I can't find my voice.

Her purple eyes widen at the sight of me, "You're right, Jack. Hypothermia. We need to get her out of here,"

He nodds, moving toward me. I struggle for a moment, searching for words.

"Who are you?" I ask.

She looks shocked, "You don't know? Then how can you see?"

"See what?"

"Tooth, we need to hurry. We'll figure it our later," Jack says.

"Yes," she blinks, "Did you get North and Bunny?"

"Of course, they're getting the others,"

"Are we headed to the Pole?"

"Yes,"

"Alright, I'll take her. I know you'd be faster, but I think we'd better not chance it,"

I stare at them, wondering who "North" and "Bunny" were. The feather-girl turned to me.

"Alright," she scooped me up easily. I was surprised by the strength of her slender arms. I was a fourteen years old, a little too big to be carried. But I didn't protest. I was to weak to say anything, and warmth radiated from her, making me feel warm and safe.

I cringed as she buzzed out into the freezing cold.

"Jack!" she called behind us, "Get to the pole and alert the Yetis! Tell them to get the hospital wing ready for three more patients!"

Only three more patients?

All I can think about as we sweep through the storm is of which one of my best friends was being left behind.


	2. Saved By Dreams

The world is quiet as I feel the chills whisper up and down my spine, like the breath of death itself. I've stopped tremoring, and my body has revolted to lying still. I know I should move. Keep up some movement to stay warm, but I can barely keep my eyelids open, and most of the time don't. Every sense seems to have left me in this silence, all for the pain and cold, and the soft echo of flakes landing on my jacket.

Then, all at once, sensation rocks into me. My eyes pop painfully open, and I see the sharp branches above. I stare at them, wondering how long I'd been asleep. My last memory had been tumbling through an ice encrusted river, in desperate search for a shelter from the storm. I'd crawled out, shaken and bitten. I made it another miserable three minutes before collapsing onto the ground and rolling over, unable to feel my legs.

I lay in the same spot, now covered in a thin layer of ice. I can't move but for my eyes because of the burning cold pain. I register a golden light above. It seems to be filled with shining flecks. Am I hallucinating? No, I don't think so.

Suddenly a round face is above me. It's features match the golden glow behind it. He has caramel eyes and skin. He says nothing as my vision becomes foggy, and I slowly drift into a peaceful sleep.

In my dreams, I'm unbelievably warm. I seep into the energy, feeling it through every inch of my body. Through the pleasure, I ponder the glowing stranger.

It took my only a moment to know who it was- the Sand Man.


	3. Leaving One Behind

I sat on the side of the trail, fully alert. It hand been exactly three hours since I'd lost the others. I was cold, but not freezing. I knew I was just starting to get hypothermia, but I should last at least another thirty minutes here before having to return to the nearby cave. Luckily, my mother was a Park Ranger, and I'd hiked these trail more times than I could count. It had been my idea to take the girls out here and show them the summer sunset, so rare in Alaska. Guilt swept over me, not knowing if the others had died because of me. It was colder than the snow.

My mom had made sure to load my pack before I set off to the mountain. I have hand and feet warmers, a rain jacket that doubles as a thick winter coat, water bottles, a water heater, and a flashlight for seeing and signaling. I hope that by staying near the trail I'd be more likely to be found, and hopefully give them some information as to where the others were.

Fifteen minutes pass, and I pack up my supplies, readying for the short climb to reach the cave. My feet were turning blue, but I knew not to try and defrost them now. It would hurt unbelievably, and would probably keep me from walking for a week. I didn't have that time.

I heard the unmistakable jingle of bells behind me. It was off in this harsh environment, but I assumed it to be the rescue team, finally. I stood, putting my whistle to my lips and raising my flashlight in the air. I clicked it three times. SOS. I waited a few minutes and tried again. SOS. I strained to hear and answer, and finally heard two rings. Coming Soon. I stood up straighter, turning to the sky, where I'd heard it. Was it a helicopter?

We continued this for a while, until something landed beside me…. but I couldn't see it. There was just an indent in the snow. I walked toward it hesitantly.

But there was nothing there..

"Hello?" I called out hoarsely. My mind was beginning to shut down as I waited for an answer. It could be the matter between life and death. I was ready to cry.

_Coming Soon__**, **_a voice whispered in the back of my mind.

I jumped, dropping the flashlight.

_SOS_, the voice was louder now, more decipherable. I recognized it, faintly.

I close my eyes to the many years ago, when I sat at the window and Christmast Eve, looking for the legendary Santa Clause my older sister had told me about. I'd stayed up so long that I could barely keep my eyes open. I woke later, my forehead pressed against the glass, to a laugh that echoed off the roof tops of the small town of Frasier. It was gone in a second, but was left ringing in my mind. The laugh of St. Nicholas.

In years to come, the memory had faded with my belief of the gift giver. Now it was brought straight to the front of my mind. My eyes opened, and I saw it.

A huge, decorated thing sat in front of me. It was a deep brown, with bells trimming the sides. Under it were four ski-like planks of wood. Most beautiful was the eight rein dear strapped in front of it with scarler leather. Then I looked higher, to the man sitting in it.

It was him. White beard, red suit, Unmistakably Santa Clause. He wasn't the jolly fat man you saw in store windows, but muscular, with robust arms that held the reins, and two shining swords strapped to his belt. He would have been intimidating but for the kind glow in his eyes and smile.

You would think I'd have been more dignified meeting him, but instead I stumbled back like an idiot, landing on my in a snow drift.

"Oy!" he called down in a thick Russian accent. My jaw fell open.

Before I had time to process what I was seeing, something stood behind him. It wasn't man nor animal, but what looked to be a breed of the two. He had a wide face and long ears that stood straight up, and round eyes. He was unmistakable, yet foreign to me.

"Bunny," Santa said to it, "Bring 'im up,"

The Bunny dropped from the sleigh, lithely and swiftly "hopping"(there's no other way describe it) toward me. He bent, offering a hand… or you could call it, paw. I just stared at it, not comprehending.

"C'mon mate," he said softly, his accent also foreign, but with the twang of an Australian. I hesitantly place my small hand in his massive one, and stood. It was like holding the prop of a play you'd just seen- real but unexpected.

The snow still fell quickly, and we ran to the sleigh. I stopped hesitating, as prison seemed more welcoming than this hell. He jumped, grasping my arm, and we landed on the sleigh. I fumbled a little bit when landing, not expecting the sudden height.

"Hurry up, North," Bunny mumbled to the bearded driver, "We need to meet up with Sandy, get these kin inside,"

The man turned, his demeanor becoming sullen as he pulled on there reins. I watched in awe as the beasts stomped their hooves, preparing to move.

"Might wanna sit down, mate," the Bunny said, seating himself in the bench behind the drivers' seat. I did as he said, noting how his claws sank into the wood.

With a clambering lurch, we were thrown into the sky, the wind lashing at us from all side. I squinted against it, my heart panging as I realized we were flying, actually flying. I'd studied Aero Dynamics all year, and we disobeyed all laws of physics. It wasn't possible, yet here we were, brushing the clouds. My mind struggled to rationalize.

The Bunny bit his lip, cowering slightly, but obviously trying not to show his fear. Adrenaline coursed through me as I looked down at the white mountain. It knocked me speechless. This should be a dream. This had to be a dream. But…. it felt so real.

Within twenty minutes we were far, far from the town of Frasier, far from Alaska, far from land itself. The storm was gone, and below I could see the ocean, turning from dark blue to black. I looked down at it, seeing the white blocks of ice floating around it. _How far north had we gone?_

I gasped when my vision was interrupted my a subtle _thunk_ next to me. I looked to my left, and saw a small man appear. He glowed softly in a gold haze that seemed to be created by he. His skin, hair, and eyes seemed to be made from sand, as if her were sculpted from it in Hawaii in one of those commercials. I dragged my attention to the girl who her lay down beside him, and gasped.

"Ashley?!" I got up, stumbling to her side. Her eyes were closed, but she was breathing softly.

I looked to the small, round faced man, "Thank you," I said, turning back to her. Ashley and I had known each other since Kindergarten, and had always been best friends. Normally her skin was a dark chocolate, her hair smooth black. Now her skin was so riged with cold it seemed light purple, and her hair almost grey from the snow clinging to it. She'd only brought a small windbreaker and some thin cotton gloves.

"How is she?" murmured the Bunny to the small golden man.

He just shrugged.

I turned to them, "What about the others?'

The mans face turned somber, and he looked at me with uncertain eyes.

"We've got one other nessie," the Bunny said, placing a paw on the mans shoulder.

"And the fourth?" my heart sank.

He pressed his lips together.

Grief swept over me, and I sank down beside Ashley. Which one? Clara or Liz? Who had I killed?

We sat in silence for another hour. They kept their distance seeming to understand that the last thing I needed was to be talked to. I felt like my insides were gone, not knowing which one I'd see when we reached wherever we were going. I knew not to ask them who they'd found, for they seemed not to know any of our names.

Finally warm lights came from below. I realized how cold it was, far, far colder than Mt. Denali. My ears stung from the wind, but we landed soon, inside a small, garage-like room. The sleigh creaked with it's weight, and I turned to pick up Ashley.

"I got 'er, mate," the Bunny said. I looked at him silently, and he backed off, and opening the door of the sleigh instead. I looked down at the five foot jump, and leapt off, landing on the stone floor with ease. I didn't register anything but Ashley's calm breathing. She was so peaceful, not knowing anything yet. I followed them down a hall, and into a brightly lit room. There were beds with curtains around them everywhere, but only one patient occupying them. I took in her blond hair an unusually pale skin. She looked freezing, with her eyes closed and her jaw taught and weary. It was Liz. I was conflicted with emotions. So she'd survived. Sharp tongued, intelligent Liz had survived. I was so glad to see her, even in this condition that I almost collapsed, swaying. Someone caught me, quickly taking Ashley from my arms. I blinked, sitting down on the bed opposite Liz, as another thought hit me.

Clara was dead.


	4. How Do You Comfort Grief?

Outside the infirmary, the five Guardians huddle together, arguing.

"This isn't protocol," insisted North.

"We couldn't just leave them," Tooth answered softly, but in a commanding voice, "And you know mortal medicine couldn't cure Ashley entirely. She'd loose her legs for sure,"

Bunny spoke, "Of course not, but bringin' em' to the Pole… the lass, John, e' didn't even believe a' firs'!"

"So, I say we bring 'em back to Alaska as soon as the sleeping one is tended to," North reasoned.

"No," said Jack. It was his first time speaking, "They're something special about these three, can't you see?"

They fell silent, looking at him with surprise.

"Liz, when I found her, she didn't know who I was, but she could _see_ me. I don't think she even knows who we are yet, but she _sees _all of us,"

"And they're so old," Tooth added, "They would have stopped believing years ago, if they were like other kids.

A crescent moon appeared above the Sand Mans' head.

"You think Many did this?" North said, his eyebrows rising.

Sandy nodded.

They pondered that for a moment.

"Fine," North finally said, "Two nights, then we return them before their parents get too worried. After that we'll just have to keep a close eye,"

Jack, Tooth, and Sandy seemed to disagree, but nodded, knowing that while North was a kindhearted man, he could be extremely stubborn.

Behind them a loud clatter came from the work shop. The turned, to see an elf standing by a knocked over desk that once held an assortment of steam engines. Now they lay on the floor, their wood cracked.

North rushed off to fix the situation. Christmas was four months away, and he was on a deadline. It was almost night, and Sandy decided to go also, and Bunny left with him. It wasn't that Bunnymund and North disliked the teens, but he couldn't say he was able to understand them. They rarely encountered children, and frankly the hormonal adolescents confused them. Jack and tooth were frozen as teens themselves, and Sandy looked into the dreams of everyone, understanding their thought process easily.

It was just Jack and Tooth. The Faery Queen had recently promoted Anarita, or as Jack called her "Baby Tooth" to second in command, and on a slow night like this (which was rare), she figure she'd leave the Tooth Palace to her more-than-capable hands.

"What should we do?" she whispered to Jack, glancing at the door. Through the small window, she could see Liz and John next to each other, both in tears. She felt a pang of sisterly protectiveness toward them.

Jack, who knew pain, extreme emotional pain, answered, "We go in, but keep our distance. They need time, and when they need comfort or guidance we'll be there,"

She nodded, keeping her gaze on them.

So the stepped into the room, quietly tending to the unconscious Ashley, who still had no idea of what she and her friends had lost.


End file.
